Gravity Falls One-Shots
by twohamadabrothers
Summary: Just a collection of Gravity-Falls one-shots. You may make requests if you'd like. Hope you enjoy!


**Hi guys!**

 **So, this is a book of Gravity Falls one-shots that I'm** ** _very_** **excited about- Mainly because it's the first of my works that I'm posting on ! I hope you guys like it :)**

 **With that, on with the story!**

 **Note: Bill's dialogue is in caps on purpose. I once heard something about someone saying he thinks in capitals, and i figured it suited this story. His dialogue will quite possible not be like this in the future as it was a bit of a pain and he may play a bigger role in some future fanciest I have planned.**

 **The loss of a twin.**

When Mabel opened her eyes, she was greeted with an event that was even more terrifying then her own death.

Her head was pounding, her heart was pumping, and her body was filled with adrenaline the minute she was brought back. With a gasp, she immediately shot upwards, and immediately regretted it. She leaned against a tree behind her and closed her eyes. Everything hurt. More pain then would've been thought humanly possible was rushing through her body, with every breath, with every movement, with every heartbeat the pain was pulsing within her, but somehow she could sense someone else was suffering much more, although it seemed impossible- and that someone was very close.

As her strength returned, so did her memories. Suddenly Mabel knew what had happened, but she didn't want to believe it.

 _"You're never there for me! To help with the journals, or to defeat Bill, you're always too focused on stupid things like your weekly crushes!"_

 _"Well at least I actually CARE about something other then discovering the secrets of the universe! Like friends, and family!"_

 _"What? Mabel, of course I care about friends and family! But without the journal-_

 _"Again with the journal! It's always- 'Journal this, Journal that.' Why can't you focus on something else for once! Like having fun for the rest of the summer, or being there for me!"_

 _"It is NOT always 'Journal this, journal that.' And maybe we wouldn't even NEED the journal anymore if you just HELPED ME OUT ONCE IN A WHILE!"_

 _"Even if I tried to help, you'd just push me away! Dipper, I need you to look at this from my perspective for once! You're the only person I've ever had and-"_

 _"The only person?! THE ONLY PERSON?! Mabel, you're the only person I'VE ever had, but I'm certainly not the only person YOU'VE ever had! Do you know how many times you've blown me off to hang out with Candy and Grenda?!"_

 _"Well maybe I wouldn't_ have _to hang out with them if you actually hung out with me, instead of just reading the journal and ignoring me all the time! God, Dipper, all you EVER do anymore is read that STUPID JOURNAL!"_

 _Both twins stopped. There was a silence. Dipper stood at one end, tears springing from his eyes, holding the journal in a tight over his chest. Mabel stood at the other, tears already rolling, with no journal to clasp, simply looking at her brother, regretting the harshness of her words, but unable to muster an apology. It was true, Dipper_ always _had the journal with him. He didn't seem to care about anything or anyone else anymore... Not even Mabel._

 _Dipper was speechless. He couldn't believe Mabel thought he didn't care about her, or Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, their parents._

 _"You honestly think..." Midway through the sentence, Dipper had a change in heart. His hurt propelled his anger, and he could swear he heard a voice in his head egging him on, reminding him of all the wrong Mabel had done and all the mysteries his journal had helped him solve. Without thinking about how much those words would impact his and Mabel's lives, without thinking how much they would hurt Mabel, without thinking at all, Dipper uttered the words that would change his entire future._

 _"It's more of a family to me than you've ever been."_

 _He wasn't facing Mabel._

 _Had he been facing her, Dipper would've ran to her, claimed he was just angry and the two would've made up._

 _But he had turned around, seconds before muttering the words._

 _Had he not turned around, had he faced Mabel and looked her in the eye, none of the following events wouldn't have happened._

 _Because to see the broken expression on Mabel's face would've broken him just as much as his words broke her._

 _Across from Dipper, Mabel stood, having no idea what to make of the situation. So many emotions, too many emotions, rushed through her every millisecond. Sadness, jealously, guilt, hurt, and although all those stayed, stronger then ever, the strongest of all- was anger._

 _"F-Fine then! Y-You have your journal. I-I'll just leave you and your r-real family b-be."_

 _Though she was crying more than she ever had, and her voice was unsure and she had stammered, Mabel meant every word of it- Or at least, she told herself she had. But no amount of lying to herself could hide the clear truth- Mabel was broken, shattered like glass, and only her brother could put her back together again. She may have thought the most over-powering emotion was anger, because that was the one she acted on- But it's much easier to act on anger than hurt, and sadness._

 _Mabel wiped her eyes, turned away from Dipper, and was soon running into the forest, not even thinking about where she was going, just that it was away from her brother._

 _Meanwhile, Dipper sunk to his knees, not believing what had just happened. What he had said._

 _Steady tears stained the journal's cover. But Dipper didn't even care. Looking at the journal, all he wanted was for it to disappear. It had caused all of this. If he just hadn't found it in the first place, none of this would've happened. In a rage, Dipper threw the journal to the floor. Still furious, Dipper grabbed it again and punched it, not even thinking that the force would not damage the pages inside. Exasperated with the still nearly-perfect cover, Dipper screamed. He grabbed the book and stood up, gripping the spine of the journal with so much force his knuckles were turning white. He took a steady breath, let his grip loosen just enough so he could open it, and studied the ancient pages for the last time- Then, he began to rip them out, tearing all the research to pieces, never to be seen again. He ripped, slashed and shred the pages all with his bare hands, thinking of the hurt in Mabel's voice, his idiotic words, every wrong he'd ever done to her with every crackle of ripping paper that echoed in the air._

 _When the journal was finally shredded to pieces, completely demolished and completely beyond repair in any dimension, never mind ours, Dipper began to cry again. He didn't even care that he had just destroyed his 'real family'- He had just lost something much more important._

 _Mabel tore through the forest, pushing the tree branches out of her way, not caring when they scraped her bare face or legs, not even caring about anything. All she could think of was that stupid journal, that stupid journal #3 that had brought her and her brother apart._

 _Finally snagging herself on an particularly large and strong branch, which managed to dig itself quite deep into Mabel's side, Mabel was forced to sit down- She fought against the hurt, but her energy had drained from her surprisingly fast (especially considering she had eaten more then her fair share of candy and caffeinated soda that day) and she simply couldn't go on for any longer. She leaned against the tree with the sharp branch, sinking down, and bringing her sweater over her eyes. She soon began to cry, all the tears she'd been holding back in her rush to get away from Dipper spilling out, all her anger disappearing, and only one person on her mind-_

 _Dipper._

 _Mabel shook her head, crying violently. Her brother had said the journals were more of a family to him than her- And if she wasn't a part of Dipper's family, if she wasn't his twin sister- Then who was she?_

 _The emotional pain was so bad her physical pain became as small as background static in an old video, and Mabel didn't even realize the blood on her side, soaking through both her shirt and sweater, and coating them in vibrant red. Mabel just sat there, weeping amongst the silence, too weak to do anything else._

 _However, the painful silence was soon broken._

 _"HEY THERE SHOOTING STAR. WHAT A COINCIDENCE IT IS SEEING YOU HERE."_

 _Bill's voice rang through the previously quite air, sending shivers down Mabel's spine. She slowly pulled her sweater down, although she didn't understand why it took so much effort to do so. But soon those thoughts were pushed to back of her mind as Mabel saw the triangular figure in all his glory. The glowing yellow dream-demon seemed quite content for someone without most human features- No mouth for a smug smile, and only one eye to look down at her maliciously._

 _"Go away, Bill." Mabel said, turning away from the triangle, pulling her sweater back over her eyes. "You aren't welcome here." Whether 'here' was in the forest or Mabel's mindscape, Mabel wasn't sure. But she knew Bill wasn't welcome in either one._

 _"OH, HOW NICE OF YOU." Bill replied sarcastically, rolling his single eye. "I WAS JUST COMING BY TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, BUT IF YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YOU HERE FOR DEATH TO CONSUME, THEN BY ALL MEANS, I'LL LEAVE."_

 _Mabel turned towards him. "Save my life...?" She asked, confused._

 _"THAT WOUND WASN'T JUST FROM A TREE BRANCH, KID." Bill said, pointing at Mabel's side, the place where she had been scratched- Or at least, Mabel had thought it was a scratch. Looking towards it, at all the sticky blood seeping through her clothes, she realized it was more of a stab. Seeing the true extent of the injury_ , _the pain rushed through her, a burning sort of pain overtaking all the senses of her body. She felt the sticky substance oozing out of her body, she tasted it on her lips, she smelt the foul stench of a infected wound, and it made her want to puke, but the pain was too fiery, too livid for her to focus on anything else, and Mabel let out a scream in pain, surprise, and agony._

 _Bill's voice suddenly brought her back to reality- Or, mindscape-ality, and Mabel realized that he had just shown her what it felt like in real life, and the pain was subdued in the mindscape._

 _"YEESH, KID, YOU SURE CAN SCREAM." Bill said, crossing his arms. But Mabel was too distracted applying pressure to her side, trying to find someway to subdue the pain even more to pay him any attention._

 _"LET ME MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU. I'LL HEAL THAT WOUND IN RETURN FOR JUST FIVE MINUTES OF PHYSICAL FORM." Bill said, rubbing his hands together- And although Mabel didn't want to listen, she did. It did sound like a good deal- Bill shouldn't be able to twist the words, and it was only five minutes to save her life..._

 _But Mabel knew better then that._

 _"I know this is a trick, Bill." Mabel said, turning away from the triangle figure. "Now leave."_

 _There was a silence. For a second, Mabel thought it had actually worked._

 _But of course, she was wrong._

 _"OH SHOOTING STAR, YOU MAY SAY THAT, BUT-" Bill gestured to himself "I'M STILL HERE, MEANING YOU HAVEN'T KICKED ME OUT OF YOUR MINDSCAPE." Suddenly confused, Mabel turned towards Bill. "What?" She asked, although she very well knew why before he explained himself._

 _"YOU KNOW I'M YOUR ONLY OPTION. WITHOUT ME YOU'LL NEVER SEE YOUR PRECIOUS GREAT UNCLES, PARENTS, FRIENDS... OR TWIN BROTHER, EVER AGAIN." As Bill said every word, images appeared behind him. First of Stan and Ford, then of Mabel's parents, Candy and Grenda, and finally... Dipper. All the good memories the twins had had flashed behind the triangular figure, all their matching halloween costumes, how they always stood up for each other when the other was bullied, all the mysteries they solved together in Gravity falls._

 _Then, Bill showed what would happen if Dipper found Mabel in the woods like this._

 _First were images of him searching through the woods for her. His calls for her echoed around the mindscape- "Mabel, where are you?!" "Mabel, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any of it." "Mabel, I need you!"_

 _Then came the images of him finding her. His cries echoed, whispers of "This is all my fault", "Mabel...", and more "I'm so sorry.." 's echoed, making Mabel's eyes go wide. Dipper was clutching her body, crying over it, and claiming how it was his fault- But it wasn't, it wasn't! Mabel wanted to scream, but was silent as more images flashed._

 _Dipper, Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, Grenda, Candy, Mabel's parents and many others at her funeral, all crying, all dressed in black. Dipper held Waddles, and although Bill didn't show it, Mabel knew it was because Dipper knew Mabel would've wanted him to be there._

 _More images flashed. Of Dipper after the funeral. He was packing his bags, leaving Gravity falls. He didn't even give Mabel's side of the room a glance, because if he did he would burst into tears. He got Grunkle Stan to grab her stuff and put it in a bag to bring home, and Grunkle Stan, who Mabel had nearly never seen cry- Who she knew was trying so hard to hold back his tears not only for his, but Dipper's sake- Was letting constant tears escape._

 _The image changed. Dipper was back home. He was hugging their parents, and he was crying. Somehow Mabel knew he had just gotten off of the bus. He soon retreated to his room, and he didn't come out again._

 _Two and a half weeks later. Dipper still hadn't left his room. He was wearing the sweater Mabel had made for him the past christmas. It was red, and had green checkered patterning, except for on one space in the front that said- '_ To the best bro-bro in the world _'_

 _It was August 31st. Their birthday. For the first time ever, Dipper was older then Mabel._

 _The images went black._

 _Mabel's eyes widen, and were suddenly filled with even more tears. She couldn't leave Dipper, not like that._

 _Before Bill had the chance to even offer his hand, Mabel pushed hers forward, practically begging Bill to take it._

 _Bill's hand whooshed into blue fire, and he grabbed Mabel's._

 _They shook hands, and Bill took over Mabel's body as Mabel flew out of it._

 _The deal was done._

 _Dipper sat demolished journal, finally coming to his senses._

 _What had he done?_

 _He'd called the book that had ruined his life more of a family to him than Mabel. More of a family then his twin sister, who was always there for him, who always stood up for him when he was bullied, who always knew how to make him smile when he was upset, who could get him to loosen up when he was uptight. Mabel, who had never doubted Dipper, even when the world seemed to be against him. Mabel, who was more then just family to him, who was his best friend._

 _He had called the emotionless journal that held only information and had got him caught in the middle of the mess that was Gravity Falls, more of a family to him then Mabel._

 _Dipper dropped what was left of the book, putting his hands on his face. He looked behind him, hoping that somehow it was all a bad dream, a nightmare, and that Mabel was standing behind him with a goofy grin on her face, claiming that he had fallen asleep while teaching her some of the more complicated rules of 'Dungeons dungeons and more dungeons', but she didn't mind because it was nerd stuff anyway, and then explain to him that he needed to stop staying up late reading that journal. Then he would claim he wouldn't ever again, because he was foolish to spend his time reading that dumb old thing instead of spending time with his dumb old sister. Then Mabel would laugh, and she would claim that he was the dumb one of the two. Everything would be okay._

 _But there was only an empty space behind him, simply dust and air, where his sister should've been._

 _Then, Dipper realized that she had run into the forest, not the shack- She would've had to have passed him, and he hadn't seen or heard her leaving._

 _She'd run right into Bill's trap. How Dipper knew Bill had even set a trap, he wasn't sure. But he did. Without any questioning, he knew that for a fact. Without a second thought, Dipper dropped the journal and ran into the forest after his twin_ _._

 _Immediately after the handshake, Mabel had almost wished she felt that pain again, instead of... Whatever this was._

 _To be a being of pure energy? It was_ weird _, to say the least._

 _She was weightless, and hovering, not feeling anything. She did not live, she merely existed. Perhaps she didn't even exist. Perhaps this whole experience was just a mirage, that she was already dead._

 _Mabel shook her head, thinking of the images Bill had shown her. She wasn't dead. She_ refused _to be dead._

 _But as she saw her own body get up from the ground, and saw her own cat-like pupils, memories of when Dipper had talked to her in sock form, and Bill-Dipper (Bipper, as she called him) taunted her about the journal flashing through her mind, she was certain of everything. She counted down in her head, only 4 minutes and 59 seconds left of this madness. 4 minutes 58 seconds, 4 minutes 57 seconds..._

 _In less then a millisecond, Bill healed the wound on Mabel's side. "Whoa!" Bill-Mabel exclaimed. "That was some pain there! Hilarious!" He said. He then slapped her face. "Eh, after feeling_ that, _this- This is nothing!" Bill said, "You're stronger then I thought, Shooting star. I wonder if your brother could handle this... " Bill said, turning towards Mabel, who was in the air. She looked away from him, ignoring it all, counting in her head how much longer until it was over._

 _"Wow, Shooting star. You're no fun! Funny, I would've thought you would've been the fun one between you and your brother."_

 _Mabel rolled her eyes and kept counting._

 _This continued on for a while. Bill trying to get a reaction out of Mabel, Mabel ignoring him._

 _There was only 1 minute and 13 seconds left when Bill pulled a long, silver stick from a tree, the tip covered in blood- His, or, er, Mabel's hands skimmed over the branch, paying extra attention to the blood's sticky texture, and Bill slowly putting a little into Mabel's mouth to taste it. Mabel recoiled after seeing this, having finally begun to pay attention. "Ew..." She exclaimed._

 _Bill simply laughed at her reaction. Mabel kept counting._

 _1 minute and 6 seconds left..._

 _"Huh, who would've thought a mere fake silver branch would kill Mabel Pines."_

 _1 minute 3 seconds left..._

 _Mabel crossed her arms, turning towards Bill._

 _1 minute left..._

 _"Almost. You healed the wound." Mabel responded before turning away from him again. It was just too weird to watch._

 _57 seconds left..._

 _"Sure I healed the wound, but I never said I would keep you alive." Bill said, inspecting the branch._

 _It took Mabel a few valuable seconds before she understood what he meant._

 _"But- You promised to heal me!" The images from earlier flashed through Mabel's mind, and she suddenly began to panic._

 _"And that I did. But I never said I'd keep you safe, or, well,_ alive _once I'd healed you."_

 _Mabel was speechless. She had been tricked._

 _43 seconds._

 _"B-Bill, you can't do this!" Mabel was still panicking. This couldn't be happening._

 _40 seconds._

 _Bill chuckled "Oh yeah? Prove it."_

 _38 seconds._

 _Mabel dashed towards her body, trying to grab the metal rod, take it away from Bill. But her arm simply passed right through it. The gears in her mind began to turn. How had Dipper gotten a hold of her when Bill had taken over his body?_

 _32 seconds._

 _A puppet! But there were no puppets around. What had he said specifically?_

 _27 seconds._

 _A vessel! She looked around, but she couldn't find anything. Bill-Mabel looked up at her flailing around helplessly, pondering aloud how to kill her. "Now, where should I stab? The stomach, the head, the heart? In fact, I don't even need to stab! Just knock her skull to tiny little pieces! So many ways to kill!"_

 _14 seconds._

 _Mabel looked around desperately. There had to be something, anything, that could help._

 _10 seconds._

 _"Hmm, I guess I'll just stab her in the heart. Good old classic death."_

 _9 seconds._

 _Mabel was panicking. She couldn't think straight, trying to figure out a plan was useless. She needed some sort of vessel, or something that would at least give her another idea- Anything!_

 _8 seconds._

 _Footsteps echoed in the distance, and a thought struck Mabel. But, no... How would he even know where she was?_

 _7 seconds._

 _Cries of her name made Mabel realize she was wrong- Somehow he knew, and he was coming to save her._

 _6 seconds._

 _All those words he had spoke were just spoken out of anger, frustration- Not hatred, not truth. Just like her own. And now she was gonna die with Dipper thinking it was his fault, and that her hateful words were true._

 _5 seconds._

 _Dipper's figure came_ _into view, and Mabel neared her body, suddenly coming up with an idea._

 _4 seconds._

 _Bill cackled. Everything was going just as he had planned._

 _3 seconds._

 _Dipper heard this and realized that Bill had taken over Mabel's body. "Don't worry Mabel, I'm coming!" He shouted, forcing himself to run harder then before, a sinking feeling in his stomach giving him the strength to do so._

 _2 seconds._

 _Mabel called back, although she knew Dipper couldn't hear her, trying to push her way back into her body- "Dipper!" She yelled, hoping somehow he would hear her._

 _1 second._

 _Dipper pushed himself even harder, runner faster then he- or anyone for that matter- would've thought possible. Mabel tried to push Bill out of her body and force her soul in, but it didn't work. She was out of ideas, but she kept trying. She wasn't giving up. Dipper finally arrived, screaming Mabel's name, just in time to see Bill give an evil grin, and-_

 _Everything happened at once._

 _Bill plunged the rod into Mabel's chest and stopped fighting her attempts to get back in. It had been five minutes. A deal's a deal- He hadn't even felt any pain._

 _"Pity..." He thought._

 _Dipper screamed. He had seen the pupils. He had been right, it was Bill, not Mabel- but as his sister fell to the ground, eyes flying open in shock, hands still on the metal rod Bill had stabbed into her chest, pupils back to normal, and a scream of pure pain pierced the air, Dipper knew she was back._

 _Mabel fell. Her chest was burning- Heck, her whole body was burning! Blood was gushing out of her chest, but it didn't seem like her own Everything was red. Her vision was blacking out. She knew in that moment she was dying, but it didn't seem real. The images flashed in her mind. Somehow she saw Dipper in front of her. She wanted to fight, but she couldn't. Nobody could fight death. It was inevitable once your time ran out, and Bill had just shattered her hourglass._

 _Dipper reached in his vest for the journal, for some sort of way out of this mess, but the pocket was empty. The journal still lay in a ripped heap by the shack._

 _Dipper ran towards Mabel, and pulled the metal rod out of her chest, only for even more blood to pour out. He threw the rod aside and grasped her pale hand, trying to think of things to do. He quickly pulled away from her hand and placed his hands on her chest, knowing that was a way to subdue the bleeding- But what now? There wasn't a decent hospital in Gravity Falls, certainly nothing that could deal with this. The only possibility was over an hour away. Dipper called out helplessly for Stan, and Ford- Maybe Ford would have a solution! But nobody answered, they were too far in the forest for them to hear. After a minute, Dipper's gaze returned to Mabel._

 _"Oh, Mabel... This is all my fault. Oh my god, Mabel." He said, looking down to the blood that was making it's way upwards and into Dipper's palms, spilling out despite his best efforts. He looked back at Mabel's pale face, and the two made eye contact, and, if only for a second, Dipper saw,_ felt _the pain she was feeling. "What have I done?" He asked, looking at the blood gushing through his sibling- His twin sister- His best friend- His other half's- chest. She was dying, and it was all because of him. He had done this. He had killed her._

 _"This is all my fault..."_

 _Dipper hung his head down, tears spilling out, landing on Mabel's sweater and mingling with her blood. Suddenly, Dipper felt her hand on top of his, as if she was trying to get his attention. Dipper moved his gaze and looked up at Mabel, who slowly, as though it took all her effort to do so, croaked out a few words-_

 _"I-It's a-a-alright."_

 _Her voice was weak, fragile. As though even the slightest touch might break her. She looked to be in discomfort, so Dipper shushed her, telling her not to speak if it hurt too much. Mabel responded with a small nod._

 _"I love you, Mabel." Dipper said, looking down at her. "I always have, you know that?" More silent tears began to rush down his cheeks. "You're the only family I've ever had. I wish I'd never said any of those things. None of them were true. You may be a little annoying at times, but you're my sister." Dipper paused, taking a breath. He had to be strong for her. She was in unimaginable pain at that moment. Dipper couldn't increase that by showing her how much it hurt him. Instead of breaking down, he looked over at her, hanging onto sanity by one thread. He smiled a little._

 _"I wouldn't have you any other way."_

 _Mabel didn't respond. Dipper knew it must hurt her too much to do so. But Dipper saw, the tiniest grin in her eyes, from her soul, even if her mouth didn't move, and he could almost hear her voice-_

 _'You too, bro-bro.'_

 _And her mouth did move this time. She smiled, the last one anyone would ever see-_

 _Then- the light left her eyes._

 _The thread snapped. Dipper gave in._

 _He began to shake, still not removing his hands in hope he was wrong- But there was no denying it. The shaking rise and fall of her chest had stopped, and her eyes were blank. She didn't blink._

 _Dipper began to sob. He broke into tears, finally removing his hands. He then began to scream. Scream that this couldn't be happening, that it should've been him, that it was all his fault._

 _It was like this for one minute._

 _It felt like hours, that minute. But it was merely sixty seconds. Sixty seconds before Bill decided to make his move._

 _"HEY THERE PINE TREE. SORRY TO RUIN THE MOMENT, BUT-"_

 _Dippers sadness soon turned to rage, as he turned around to face the demon, getting up from his place beside Mabel, about to do who knows what to the demon- but Bill cut him off before he could even start screaming, or lung at the being of energy like any logical person would._

 _Dipper had just started to run towards the shape when he heard the words-_

 _"I CAN SAVE HER."_

 _Dipper stopped. He knew to never make deals with Bill. He knew they always back fired and were never what they seemed. He knew Bill might not even come through. But he also knew that if there was even a slight chance that he could save his sister- He would take it._

 _"What do you want." He growled, still filled with rage._

 _"WELL, PINE TREE- ITS A LIFE FOR LIFE TRADE. I'LL TAKE YOUR LIFE FORCE, AND PUT IT INTO SHOOTING STAR OVER THERE-" Bill pointed towards Mabel, who was lying against a tree behind Dipper. He flinched, closing his eyes and ignoring the visions of her dead body, her blood that was (quite literally) on his hands, and the harsh words he had said to cause this. As Bill continued, Dipper opened his eyes to look at the demon. "_ _SHE'LL LIVE, AND HER INJURIES WILL, FOR THE MOST PART, HEAL- BUT YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND- WELL, YOU JUST CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT A LIFE FORCE."_

 _"So... Mabel lives, but I die?" Dipper asked, finally looking back at his sister, but turning back to Bill after barely a glance. He couldn't see her dead. He just couldn't._

 _"YUP, YOU GOT IT PINE TREE. SO, DO WE HAVE A DEAL?"_

 _"And you promise she won't be hurt, after-"_

 _"TICK TOCK PINE TREE, THERE'S ONLY A FEW MORE SECONDS BEFORE THE TRADE BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE, HER PHYSICAL FORM NO LONGER ABLE TO HOLD A LIFE FORCE- DO YOU REALLY WANNA BE ASKING QUESTIONS?"_

 _Bill offered his palm, and it lit with blue fire._

 _Dipper would've thought it over, but there wasn't much to think about it- If there was even the slight chance Bill could save his sister, there was no way Dipper was going to give that up._

 _"DO WE HAVE A DEAL?" Bill asked again-_ _and this time, Dipper took his hand without a moment of hesitation._

 _The second the two touched, Dipper looked back towards Mabel, and saw Mabel's wound start to clean itself up, the giant tear in her chest starting to mend, as well as, surprisingly, the hole in her her sweater and shirt. But at the same time, Dipper began to lose strength, and he soon fell to the ground. He saw blood, everywhere, and realized not only was he living Mabel's death right now- But he was going to have to live through his own right after._

 _He heard his own words, although they were fuzzy, and felt a small amount of relief. Was this how Mabel had felt hearing him?_

 _Then he saw unfamiliar images of himself, behind Bill's figure and realized this was what Mabel had been thinking about. Again, they were fuzzy and hard to make out due to the immense physical pain he felt, but he saw it was him after Mabel had died, or what would've been, and he realized Mabel was so much more afraid of this then death itself- And suddenly he was afraid too. Not of death, but of how Mabel would live without him... If it was anything like he would've lived without her... Dipper ignored that thought. He just had to hope she'd be okay on her own._

 _But as soon as Mabel's death was over, Dipper was in too much pain to think. As he shrieked, his life force draining, Mabel's eyes opened again._

 _All Dipper's previous thoughts vanished, and he realized why he was doing this. Mabel would get over his death and live a happy life, and that was enough for Dipper. If she got to see the world, even if it was without him, he'd be perfectly happy to give up his own life._

 _And then, he closed his eyes. Lungs under the pressure he would feel if drowning, skin burning as if he were on fire, heart stinging as if he had been stabbed, and a whole other array of unpleasant deaths mixed into one, until he was overwhelmed, and his life force left, and fled to the nearest vessel- Mabel._

Mabel's memories were back, but she wished they weren't. She was aching all over, and she still felt as though that metal rod were in her chest, even if in reality it lay just to her left.

As she slowly gained enough strength to move, Mabel realized a few of those memories weren't hers, but her brothers. She couldn't believe how stupid he was to actually have sacrificed himself for her.

As she slowly gained strength, Mabel opened her eyes. And what she saw was worse then anything else she could've imagined.

Across from her, Bill Cipher was performing some sort of life force trade between her and her brother. She had seen the memory, she had known what was going on, but she just couldn't believe it was actually happening. She had thought maybe it was all a bad dream, a nightmare.

But as she saw her brother, wilted and shrivelled like a dead flower petal on the ground across from her, screaming in agony every few moments as another wave of pain washed over him, another kind of death, Mabel realized it was all real. She wanted to cry, to bawl her eyes out. But without a full life force, she couldn't. She wanted to scream, and scream and scream her lungs out. But without a full life force, she couldn't. She wanted to rush over to him and wrap him in her arms and tell him that she loved him too, that he couldn't be doing this, that he was an idiot and needed to take back the deal. But without a full life force- She couldn't.

All she could do was sit and watch. Sit and _watch_ the pain flashing through her brother's eyes as he screamed, as he withered. Just _watch_ as he died, as his life force fled, and being completely powerless to stop it. Just _watch,_ knowing this whole thing was _her_ fault, but her brother was paying the price. It was the worst feeling in the world. If she had been thinking straight, she might've wondered if that had been how Dipper felt as he watched her die- And she would've been right.

But that thought never crossed her mind, as Mabel was too heart-broken and distraught by the figure across from her- By the shaking form of her brother. As the hole in her chest mended and her breaths became less painful, as her heart began beating steadily, and as Dipper began having longer intervals in between his screams of pain, Mabel realized this was the last few seconds of whatever ritual this was. But she still couldn't cry. She still couldn't scream. She still couldn't move.

She just watched as her brother's pained movements suddenly stopped, as his final strength left him, the last seconds of his life passed right before her eyes. For a second, Mabel saw Dipper summon the last of his strength to look up at her, give her a weak smile and mouth the words- 'I love you'

Then, he closed his eyes, let out one, final, fatal scream and fell limply to the ground. Mabel knew it was over, for at the exact same moment Dipper hit the ground, tears began streaming down her face. She could cry, meaning she could also scream and move- Meaning it was complete. She had Dipper's life force, and she had none.

As she ran towards her brother, Bill Cipher vanished, his work done. But Mabel didn't care in that moment. Her brother was dead- Nothing mattered anymore, because Dipper was dead.

As she finally reached him, she kneeled down, and checked for a pulse, a heartbeat, some sort of sign Bill had done it wrong, that maybe somehow the twins shared a life force now. But there was nothing.

More tears sprung down her face. No, this couldn't be happening. It all had to be some prank. Dipper couldn't be gone, he couldn't, he _couldn't_ , he _COULDN'T!_

Then it struck her, looking at the limp figure in her arms, that he _could_. She'd never she his dorky smile again, or see him reading the journal across from her, pen in his mouth. They'd never go on another adventure, they'd never do their mystery twins handshake again, they'd never have another awkward sibling hug, because he was gone, Dipper was _gone_ \- And he was never coming back.

"No, Dipper, no! This is all my fault, if I hadn't taken Bill's deal, if I hadn't run away..."

As Mabel clutched Dipper's lifeless body, cursing Bill, cursing herself, cursing Dipper's stupid decision to sacrifice himself for her, the rest of the world was silent.

It was as if they all knew what was happening, but nobody had a clue.

But that didn't matter.

All that could be heard in that one silent moment was Mabel's sobs, whispering the words-

"I wish I hadn't ran off, I wish we'd never found the journal, I wish Bill Cipher didn't exist, I wish Dipper hadn't sacrificed himself, I wish I hadn't been so stupid..."

But one whisper, one wish, was louder then the rest.

"I wish Dipper were here..."

And it kept on going. As the sun rose and the moon disappeared behind the horizon, Mabel uttered those words, hoping somebody, anybody would hear them- And grant them.

She was so sleep deprived that she eventually fell asleep clutching her brother's body.

She dreamt that it had never happened. That Dipper was still beside her, being his dorky awkward self.

She dreamt the same dream every night after. As the images Bill has shown her reversed, Mabel unable to look at Dipper's side of the room, constantly looking at the pictures of them together in her scrapbook, never leaving her room, wishing that Dipper was older then her instead of her going through their birthday alone. But every night, she would have the same dream, that Dipper was alive, and that he was beside her, that he was happy, laughing even. The two were together- And that was all that mattered.

But that was, from that point forth, the only time Mabel and Dipper would ever be together again- In the mind-scape, where anything is possible.

Because anywhere else- It was impossible.

Because anywhere else- Dipper Pines was dead.

 **Hey guys!**

 **Sophia here!**

 **So... uh... I made myself cry writing this...**

 **Oops?**

 **I apologize for writing this.**

 **Hopefully the next one-shot I write will be happier.**

 **Although tbh it probably won't be since I've been getting lots of ideas for sad one-shots...**

 **wHOOPS**

 **I feel so evil... I'm so sorry,**

 **Anyway, so I have an explanation. Within the fight, Dipper and Mabel were being influenced by Bill- That was the voice egging Dipper on, the reason why Mabel ran into the forest and not the shack, and the reason Dipper knew exactly where to go when Mabel ran off, and knew it was a trap. The reason why Bill needed this to happen was so he could take over the world, and with Dipper and Mabel in Gravity falls he couldn't do that.**

 **Leave requests through private messages or reviews (If there's other ways that works too, still new here, I don't quite know the ropes!) and I'll try to get to them :)**

 **Hope you enjoyed the my first Gravity Falls one-shot! :)**

 **~Sophia**


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